


Season 3 Finale

by srmiller



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Gen, olicity - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-12
Updated: 2013-12-12
Packaged: 2018-01-04 10:37:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1080002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/srmiller/pseuds/srmiller
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oliver gets ready to face Slade for the final time but before he leaves there's one thing he has to let Felicity know first; and it turns out the man who thinks he's on island to himself has plenty of backup.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Season 3 Finale

Oliver headed to the stairs, ready to stop Slade once and for all but stops when he hears Felicity’s voice behind him, calling his name as her heels clatter across the concrete floor of the foundry.

"Oliver, don’t forget this."

He looks down at her hands, at the colorful nails polished in shades of green and pink, and sees his mask held in her palm. But he doesn’t he take it from her, just shifts his weight and his feet slightly so he’s facing her and waits as she reaches up and wraps the tight elastic around his head. Waiting patiently, and with more than a little pleasure, he feels the pads of her fingers along his temples as she adjusts it to the right position.

He can still see the bruises along her jaw from her earlier encounter with Slade, when he hadn’t been fast enough or strong enough or whatever he needed to be to save her. To protect her.

"Stop it."

He glances up to look through those familiar lenses in to her eyes, looking at him with both exasperation and affection as she frames his face with those small hands.

"This is not, and will never be, on you. I’ll be fine, I’ll heal. Go be a hero, I’ve got your back here."

Reaching up he wraps his gloved hand around her wrist, squeezing once to let her know he understood. He couldn’t say he would do as she asked, but he could let her know he heard.

"Oliver, he’s leaving the warehouse."

Both Felicity and Oliver glanced to where Digg was standing by the computers, where a red flashing dot indicated where Slade was.

There was a sudden and potent urgency in the room as they all remembered this was not a usual night of protecting the city. They were long past crossing names off a list, long past weak men who counted greed and a small army as their only means of protection.

Slade was neither weak, nor greedy.

Worse, he was a man with nothing to lose.

Suddenly terrified, but determined to never ask him to stay because it wouldn’t be fair to either of them, Felicity stepped closer, “Promise me.”

He didn’t have to ask what she was talking about, didn’t have to search his memory for the reference. The moment in the foundry before he’d gone after who he now knew to be Blood, when she’d been afraid for him but had been brave enough to let him go was one of the strongest memories he had.

A precious thing he held on to.

But he still couldn’t promise he’d come back, couldn’t promise he’d survive this last and final showdown with the man who had been his friend.

There were no words in any known language for moments like this.

So he kissed her instead.

There was heat and the inexplicable (and somehow expected) feeling of coming home. There was warm light and the taste of sugar, her arms wrapping around his neck as she pressed herself closer, his own arms holding her to him.

It was desperation and it was peace at long last.

But it was time to go, so he pulled away, adjusting the glasses on her face much the same way she’d fixed his mask, and imbedded her little smile to last in his memory for eternity, “I’ll do everything I can to get back to you. I promise, Felicity.”

"I’ll see you later."

With a grim nod he reached for his bow and ran towards the door, and after a single second of letting the whole thing process, Felicity turned to her bank of computers and Digg (who had turned away to give them privacy), “Have you heard from Roy?”

Digg nodded, “He’s on coms, he said he’s on his way.”

Sliding in to her seat she reached for her bluetooth and slipped it over her ear, “Oliver, Roy I’ve got Slade’s car. It’s at 14th and Tressle, heading East.” Her phone beeped and with a sigh of relief she read the text, “And Detective Lance is on his way.”

"Don’t think you’re having this party without me."

Felicity and Digg shared a smile at the whiskey voice suddenly on the coms, “We wouldn’t dream of it Sara. He’s at 15th and slowing down, good luck guys.”

**Author's Note:**

> [share on tumblr if you liked it!](http://awriterincowboyboots.tumblr.com/post/78871640387/a-kiss-to-break-down-the-walls)

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Without You Next to Me (So Empty)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1085642) by [SunsetRunner](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunsetRunner/pseuds/SunsetRunner)




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